#Marriage

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on June 27th, and ever since we’ve all been curious (to put it mildly) whom the president would appoint to fill the position.

It’s hard to overstate how much is at stake here; the next Supreme Court appointee could possibly overturn Roe v. Wade or gay marriage, and will absolutely form and shape life in this country for decades.

Trump has reportedly narrowed the field down to three potential choices. Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; Amy Coney Barrett on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals; and Raymond Kethledge on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. All of these candidates are conservative… to varying degrees.

Trump intends to announce his top choice at 9 p.m. ET on Monday July 9.

Here’s where the candidates stand on the issues:

Brett Kavanaugh

In the 2017 case of Garza v. Hagan, which determined whether or not an undocumented woman could have an abortion in ICE custody, Kavanaugh’s stance was that Kavanaugh honored Roe v. Wade as the precedent here, which suggests he wouldn’t overturn it if elected.

There isn’t much information available on Kavanaugh and LGBTQ+ issues. According to a piece in the LA Times, his rulings are “predictable” and he has a tendency to uphold court precedent, which could be a good thing in terms of upholding gay marriage.

That said, Kavanaugh is also known as an advocate of “religious freedom.” As we saw in the gay wedding cake case earlier this year, this can be a damaging thing.

In the case of Kavanaugh, it’s honestly hard to predict how things could turn out if he is appointed.

Raymond Kethledge

Kethledge was appointed by George W. Bush. According to Time, Kethledge has said he will uphold Supreme Court precedent. This would, of course, be good news for LGBTQ+ rights and women's rights.

He hasn’t made any rulings on LGBTQ+ rights or abortion so far in his career so nothing is completely clear.

Amy Coney Barrett

Trump appointee Judge Amy Coney Barrett is the most extreme of the three potential Supreme Court picks. She belongs to a highly conservative, controversial sect of Catholicism called “People of Praise,” and many are concerned her religious views could affect her work as a judge.

In 2013, she wrote an article in Texas Law Review arguing that Roe v. Wade and other similar cases needn’t be upheld as settled law. This kind of thinking could also, of course, threaten same-sex marriage rights.

In a 2006 commencement address at Notre Dame Law School, Barrett is quoted as saying:

“Your legal career is but a means to an end, and that end is building the Kingdom of God. “

In between those two parties, the couple made time to appear at a Gay Pride Week block party in downtown South Bend. There, they wore rainbow colored beads and took pictures with attendees.

In addition, the wedding ceremony included a reading of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in the Obergefeel v Hodges case that legalized marriage equality in the U.S.

Peter, or Pete, Buttigieg is a well-respected politician on the rise. Not only has his direct approach and Bi-party polices made him a beloved Democratic leader in a Republican city, but he’s being watched and reared by the Democratic party.

Barack Obama once called him a rising star in the party, and his run for the Democratic National Committee in 2017 earned him much respect from his peers and superiors. Many news sites like CNN and Politico have even stated that he may be a Presidential hopeful down the line.

“Like most people, I would like to get married one day and eventually raise a family,” he wrote. “I hope that when my children are old enough to understand politics, they will be puzzled that someone like me revealing he is gay was ever considered to be newsworthy. By then, all the relevant laws and court decisions will be seen as steps along the path to equality.”

Over the weekend, Pope Francis once again underscored the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex couples parenting children.

IOL News reports that the Pope, speaking to the Forum delle Famiglie on Saturday, said only heterosexual families can form a family. He also hailed the "sanctity" of women who forgive cheating husbands.

"It is painful to say this today: People speak of varied families, of various kinds of family," but "the family [as] man and woman in the image of God is the only one," Francis said in unscripted remarks.

The Pope has a history of sending conflicting messages regarding his feelings about LGBTQ rights.

These new comments come just a month after the Pope seemed to comfort a gay victim of clerical sexual abuse saying God made him gay, and that both the Pope and God love him that way.

“He told me, ‘Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like this and loves you like this and I don’t care. The pope loves you like this. You have to be happy with who you are,’” Cruz, pictured above, told Spanish newspaper El País, according to The Guardian.

The Pope has appeared to be more liberal than his predecessors in the past regarding LGBTS, particularly in 2013, when asked about the existence of a “gay lobby” within the Vatican Pope Francis replied, “Who am I to judge?”

The British Royal family is going to have its first public gay marriage.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten is a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and great-nephew of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who came out as bisexual in 2016.

Now, he’s getting ready to marry his long-term partner James Coyle.

The two will get married at a private chapel in Devon in front of close friends and family including Mountbatten’s three daughters, Ella, Alix, and Luli. In addition, he'll be given away by his ex-wife.

All my good friends have accepted James,” he revealed. “I basically told everyone: ‘I’ve found somebody — it’s a bloke.’ They just started laughing.

“Then they met James and one particular mate said: ‘If I was gay, I’d certainly go for him.'”

“Being completely truthful, it doesn’t sit comfortably with me that I’m going out with a man,” he said.

“I’ve lived my whole life as a heterosexual. So, all of a sudden, having a bloke around is unusual — even now.

“It’s brilliant but I suppose in an ideal world I would prefer to have a wife because that has always been the norm.”

That said, Mountbatten shared that he’s growing to accept and appreciate his sexuality.

“We were talking with friends in Bermuda about this nature-nurture business not so long ago,” said Mountbatten.

“I knew from the age of eight I was more attracted to men. I definitely think it’s in the genes. You’re either gay or you’re not."

Then Mountbatten moved on to talking about the wedding. Why he’s having it and what he plans it to be like.

“I really wanted to do it for James. He hasn’t been married.

“For me, what’s interesting is I don’t need to get married because I’ve been there, done that and have my wonderful children; but I’m pushing it because I think it’s important for him.

“James hasn’t had the stable life I have,” he continued, before turning to his partner, an airline cabin services director, and telling him: “I want to be able to give you that.”

Coyle also added: “It’s a very modern marriage. There was no proposal, just an acceptance of this great love. He cares. I care. The girls are very accepting."

“Three years ago they were saying: ‘Wow. Are you guys going to get married?’

We said: ‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s absolutely not on the radar at all.’ But gradually it has become something that makes sense.

“Now we’ve started to get a plan in place, I’m getting a lot more excited. We went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and said: ‘We’re not doing that. We’re not cutting cakes. We’re not having a first dance.’

‘We’ll be pronounced partners in marriage, but the ceremony itself will be very small,” he added.

“It’s just for the girls and close family and friends.”

So this won’t be another big Royal Wedding, but its a royal wedding all the same. We wish the best for Ivar Mountbatten and James Coyle.

Choosing to remain stuck in the Dark Ages, the Indiana Republican Party voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm its commitment to marriage being “between a man and a woman” despite the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which made marriage equality the law of the land.

According to NWI.com, Gov. Eric Holdcomb had proposed a revised party plank regarding families that expressed support for all adults raising children.

Instead the 1,494 GOP delegates attending the biennial convention in Evansville reaffirmed the opposite-sex marriage plank first adopted in 2014.

Proposed by Porter County Republican Chairman Michael Simpson, the new language would have declared: "We support traditional families with a mother and father, blended families, grandparents, guardians, single parents and all loving adults who successfully raise and nurture children to reach their full potential every day.”

Speaking to delegates from the floor of the convention, Simpson said a broader understanding of family “is the best platform for our party and the best way for us to grow.”

But Morgan County GOP chairman Daniel Elliott, pushing the issue to the forefront of the convention, told attendees that man-woman marriage “is an important part of who we are as Hoosier Republicans.”

“This language ... recognizes the reality on the ground that most families are headed by married couples,” Elliot said.

It's all happening so fast! After just a few weeks of dating, pop star Ariana Grande and SNL cast member Pete Davidson are engaged, reports Us Weekly.

The young lovebirds, both 24, only made their relationship Internet-official on May 30 with a Harry Potter-themed Instagram post:According to Us, Grande and Davidson started telling people they were engaged at Robert Pattinson’s birthday party in LA on June 9.

One source tells Us:

“They are a perfect fit. They are not rushing to get married. Their friends are really excited and supportive…They are both constantly making each other laugh. Their moms have met. They’ve been very public with their relationship on social media, and they are very in love.”

This news all comes mere weeks after the “No Tears Left to Cry” songstress officially called it quits with boyfriend of two years, rapper Mac Miller. Around the same time, Davidson officially called it quits with Cazzie David; they’d also been an on-again off-again item for roughly two years.

Davidson already has two tattoos in honor of his fiancée: bunny ears from her Dangerous Woman album cover are engraved behind his ear, and Grande’s initials are inked on his thumb.

That said, AJ isn’t the only happy marriage that the show’s cast and crew have seen since recording the first season. Earlier this month, Tom Jackson got married to his ex-wife Abby Parr (Again!).

Jackson appeared on the first episode of the season. In it, the self-proclaimed redneck rekindled the flame between him and Parr. That eventually led to the two getting married at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after the recording.

Well Clements is certain that the relationship wasn’t real at all and just the fabrication of reality television. Clements states that the wealthy Romanian named Jesus was introduced to Marin by the TV company that the two are currently working under for a Romanian reality show.

"Due to the fact I had left him, they arranged for him to meet this man.

"The story was invented. He is not with him now, even if he was with him.

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't with him, and it was a made-up thing."

Honestly, it looks like Clements is determined to believe Marin’s every word to his detriment. Not only has he already given away his home but now he’s writing Marin into his will with the plans to give him everything.

"I have got to be realistic,” he says, “I am 80 in August and I want to see him secure.”

"He is the only one I can leave things to. I don't see much of my brothers, and they wouldn't need it.”

Their lives together weren’t “happily ever after” however as Marin would often be out at all hours of the night to go clubbing. Whenever Clements confronted Marin about this, the two would fight.

When Clements returned to his native England for a few health checkups, he was told by Marin not to return and that their relationship was over. What’s worse is that Clements sold his old Kent home to pay for the Romanian home that Marin was living in. Clements even put Marin’s name on the house because of his age, thus leaving himself homeless.

We’ll be honest to say we’re shocked at hearing that these two are back together again and we are highly suspicious.